More intelligent DC railway electrical power systems with traction power control

Abstract

AbstractThe load of a dc railway has very large peaks while the average power is low. This makes the capacity of wayside power equipment larger. Recently, the ratio of peak power to average power has become even higher because of the introduction of a large number of electric multiple units with a regenerative brake system. This has also made the contact system unreceptiveness of the regenerated energy a significant problem. To solve these problems, researchers are attempting to add intelligence to the power system.This paper describes a novel method of intelligently controlling the traction power of trains. In this system the trains reduce their accelerating power to cut current peaks in wayside substations. With the proposed method the load peaks can be reduced by up to 31 percent, which means that the characteristics of the railway load have been changed drastically. The delays of the trains involved are negligible. Also, the unreceptiveness of the regenerated power can almost be eliminated.In the first part of this paper, the idea of traction power control is described. Then a description is given of how the idea is applied to wayside substation load peak suppression or receptiveness improvement, with some simulation results to prove the method. Finally, the possibility is discussed of further improvement of the system by adding communication capability between trains and wayside equipment.